New to this E MTB lark

[Ballynoes]

Hi,


I am just new to the forum and also new to E Bikes.


I have two other MTB’s a hard tail and a Full Suss, ( a boy can never have too many bikes)


I am looking to buy an E MTB in the next few months and have been looking at everything I can, and then I came across this site.


I have decided I want the mid mount motor rather than hub based, and I also want good quality components which I am used to fixing myself. I did take a bike maintenance course, so replacing or repairing most things is not a problem.


However as we all know the electronics part of an E bike is specialised.


I was looking at a Cube Reaction around £2000, not sure exactly which model yet, but I did see a range of bikes called Haibike, which I have never come across before, are they any good.


I have a few questions, which have probably been asked before but please bear with me.


1.. What do people think of the different motors, ie. Bosch versus Yamaha etc. ??


2.. Would you buy a bike “online” as I am concerned if I have an electronics fault I will run into problems getting it repaired, instead of returning it to the local shop. Also most couriers and Royal Mail will not ship Lithium Batteries, should they go faulty. Does this restrict me to buying from my local Bike shop, as I would not be able to return the battery or the motor for warranty repair. ??

3.. Are the electronics waterproof, as I don’t mind going out in the rain, or through streams etc, and I do wash my bikes regularly.

4.. Are there any pit falls I should be aware of which buyers never though off before purchasing.

I have figured out battery usage and size etc for what I want to do with the bike, but essentially, as I am late 50’s keeping up with the younger guys on the climbs is what lets me down the most, and they have to wait at the top for me to catch up.


Any help or pointers would be appreciated.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Zlatan]

I,ve got Haibike Hard7 (27.5 wheels) Yamaha. Couldn't recommend it higher. No issues, and its done just under 2000 miles. ( recent new cassette, and chain, which returned gears to perfect)
Wife has almost identical bike ( was a youths model so not sure of designation) Looks identical bur smaller and has Bosch..
They are both brilliant. I actually prefer Yam, its powerful enough and feels (IMHO) more controlled in its power delivery...but I,d happily have either. ( Borrowed a Cube with Bosch CX for a weekend)
Have a good read of all the forum reports...you,ll work out which to avoid..

 

[chris_n]

I have a Haibike hardseven too. It is a blast, however I feel it is far too heavy for what it is. The fork is nowhere near as good as my 10 year old Boardman MTB (although that does have a particularly fine XC 100mm fork) brakes are fine, gears are fine.
I live in the Alps most of the year and regularly do 60 - 70 km rides with over 2000m of climbing. Having recently borrowed a 500wh battery I can confirm that it changes the riding experience immeasurably. No more sag and no more dying at 10% remaining, the battery remained perfectly usable on a 15% gradient with only 5% left.
I've not ridden a Bosch bike but suspect the experience would be broadly similar. I've certainly had mine out in the rain but do take care when cleaning it.

 

[Zlatan]

I,ve not noticed any fall off in performance below 15%, infact on the one occasion I did see "1 mile" left it was still pulling fine...but I have noticed quite a reduction in range in very cold conditions. This winter planning on a neopreme cover for battery to see if that helps...

 

[chris_n]

I,ve not noticed any fall off in performance below 15%, infact on the one occasion I did see "1 mile" left it was still pulling fine...but I have noticed quite a reduction in range in very cold conditions. This winter planning on a neopreme cover for battery to see if that helps...

I suspect my normal terrain may be a little more extreme than yours. My last km is up an average of over 10% with sections up to 20%, on the 2016 400wh battery the last 10% is torture.
I have a friend who is a mechanic at the local bike shop, he commutes 25km to and from work every day on a Yamaha Haibike, he makes the same comment on the last 10% and he has a climb similar to mine to finish the day.

 

[Zlatan]

I suspect my normal terrain may be a little more extreme than yours. My last km is up an average of over 10% with sections up to 20%, on the 2016 400wh battery the last 10% is torture.
I have a friend who is a mechanic at the local bike shop, he commutes 25km to and from work every day on a Yamaha Haibike, he makes the same comment on the last 10% and he has a climb similar to mine to finish the day.

Must admit my hard climb is early on in ride ...from none electric days...get the climb done with...but I,ll experiment...Hills in Derbyshire are quite steep ...my hardest is I,d guess 18% for 2km...but I,ve pedelled up Pico Neulous in Southern France which is around a 3000ft climb in about 8 miles ??...I get to top with 5% left...In theory as long as your bike is not derestricted your controller will be the limiting factor...it should give max permisable voltage until battery is actually failing..( In theory...D8veh will hopefully comment??)

 

[chris_n]

Must admit my hard climb is early on in ride ...from none electric days...get the climb done with...but I,ll experiment...Hills in Derbyshire are quite steep ...my hardest is I,d guess 18% for 2km...but I,ve pedelled up Pico Neulous in Southern France which is around a 3000ft climb in about 8 miles ??...I get to top with 5% left...In theory as long as your bike is not derestricted your controller will be the limiting factor...it should give max permisable voltage until battery is actually failing..( In theory...D8veh will hopefully comment??)

My bike is derestrictedbut that makes no difference when climbing at 10 - 15 kmh. It is voltage sag, it is hot, the battery is low and everything becomes inefficient. With a 500wh battery it is a lot less noticable.

 

[georgehenry]

I also have a 2015 sDuro Hard seven Yamaha with 400wh battery and have a tough Hill to get back to my house and would agree with chris_n that if I hit this hill with 10% ish battery remaining the support drops away. Mostly I am riding to and from work and can charge at work and never come across this but on the few occasions I have the drop in support has been noticeable.

I guess one way to cope with this is knowing it is going to happen so that you can plan your ride and support levels so that you finish with 10% left in the battery. Maybe harder to do that in the Alps!

I now ride in eco off road with only tiny busts of standard where the terrain, gradient, or technical nature of the trail call for it, and turn the assist off wherever the gradient allows. Again more extreme riding environments will call for the use of more assistance.

 

[STEVEMANFA]

Buy the best that you can afford, try out as many bikes as you can, and just go with what is right for you, the more you read about motors the harder it will be to make you mind up,
I ride in the wet and I have never had a problem, I only ride for fun and 99% of the time it's in the woods.

 

[stephen Harvey]

I have a Haibike FatSix RX but have just purchased a new eBike online so to speak Moustache Race 8 so I would go for it if I were you Haibikes are very good and to be totally honest you can't go wrong with any of the new motors as you see here some of us have done a lot more miles than me (UK based) so take the jump you will not regret it one little bit


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[GLJoe]

4.. Are there any pit falls I should be aware of which buyers never though off before purchasing.

What type of cadence do you find yourself riding at?

 

[Ballynoes]

I generally ride between 60 & 80. My average speed is always around 8 to 10 mph, which is why I need a little help on the hills.

 

[Eckythump]

Best place to start is with what kind of riding do you do, XC, trail, endure, pottering around? How far do you tend to go and how high do you climb in a session. Another thing that affects things as far as range is rider weight if you do quite a bit of climbing.

For any kind of trail riding your choice of mid drive makes sense as the motor can use the mechanical advantage of the bikes gears to improve climbing ability. It also keeps the weight central helping with jumps & balance for more 'involved' mountain biking.

Give some thought as to where you are going to keep the bike & how you are going to charge the battery, i.e. do you need a removable one.

As for motors they all have different feel that appeals to different people in different ways. You really need to try them to see which would suit you better.
Your info shows you are in Scotland, the centre at Glenntress has eMTB's so would be worth a trip to try them out. The trails there are very good and will give you plenty of insight as to what level of bike you would like.

As to where to buy one, If you have an e bike specialist within reasonable travelling distance that is probably your best choice as they will have a bigger range of bikes & be used to dealing with them. After that you will have to decide which is more valuable to you, a local shop you know and trust that may be more expensive and limited to a couple of brands or buy online where you can have what you want for maybe a little less. I believe if you buy an item that contains a battery, shipping is not such an issue, the shipping of batteries on their own is a different matter. I fly electric RC stuff and the battery restrictions have become a real pain in recent months. You would need to check with retailers to confirm that though.
There is very little shops can do with the motors, they are usually removed as a unit if there is an issue and replaced so do not really need a specialist to carry out that kind of work.

As you have probably gathered from the posts above, Haibike is a very popular e bike brand. A lot of the e bike brands originate in Europe and are not so well known here but shouldn't be dismissed, do a bit or research. Most of the regular brands have e bikes now too. A manufacturer that seems to be doing consistently well in tests is Merida. The Eurobike show is just around the corner where a lot of bikes are announce/released. Might be worth seeing what pops up from that before committing.....

Hope some of the above waffle helps and enjoy shopping....

 

[bobp]

Most bike parks like Whinlatter in the Lake District hire out ebikes. A great way to test before you unload your wallet.
I've never regretted it for a moment.


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